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WORLD / Middle East
Iran criticizes French war warning
(AP)
Updated: 2007-09-18 11:16
Tehran - Iranian media lashed out at France on Monday for raising the
rhetoric in the standoff over Tehran's nuclear program, a day after the
French foreign minister said the world should be prepared for war if Iran
obtains nuclear weapons.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy and his administration have taken a
tougher line against Iran's controversial nuclear program than his
predecessor, Jacques Chirac, who left the Elysee presidential palace in
May.
"The occupants of the Elysee have become translators of the White House
policies in Europe and have adopted a tone that is even harder, even more
inflammatory and more illogical than that of Washington," Iran's IRNA
news agency wrote in an editorial Monday posted on its website.
The US and many of its allies, including France, have been pressuring
Iran to suspend its nuclear program, which they believe is cover for
weapons development?-- a charge Iran denies. US President Bush has
refused to take military action off the table if Iran does not comply.
On Sunday, French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner warned that war could
break out if Iran obtains nuclear weapons and said European leaders were
considering their own economic sanctions against the?country.
Kouchner, speaking on RTL radio, said that if "such a bomb is made ... we
must prepare ourselves for the worst," specifying that could mean a war.
French Prime Minister Francois Fillon sought to play down Kouchner's
comments on Monday, saying "everything must be done to avoid war."
"France's role is to lead the way to a peaceful solution," he said.
Italian Foreign Minister Massimo D'Alema also attempted to shift
attention from Kouchner's remark, saying on the sidelines of a peace
conference in Turin that "before talking about war, we have to give
political and diplomatic initiatives necessary time."
IRNA also accused the French government of trying to derail a recent
agreement between Iran and the International Atomic Energy Agency, the UN
nuclear watchdog, to answer outstanding questions about Tehran's nuclear
activities.
"While the issue of Iran's nuclear case is close to being resolved,
thanks to the measures taken by Iran and the IAEA, the extremism of the
French leaders is creating an obstacle in this path," the editorial said.
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